Scout Archive
Thread: State of the Profession January 18, 2004 (UPDATED)
State of the Scouting Profession - January 18, 2004
Introduction
NOTE: This State of the Profession has been updated through January 17, 2004. As we have had no major changes to the profession since the original date of this post (November 4, 2003) it can still be considered accurate. New or changed items are italicizeds
Scouts are one of the most balanced professions in the game at this point. With the considerable attention given to us early in the game, the vast majority of recommendations and comments that I have and that my constituents have are suggestions for more content, features and your usual bug fixes. There are no critical bugs effecting Scouting right now, and no major revamps of any of the skills, trees or XP levels has been requested.
Generally, Scouts would like to see more useful items provided using forage, a means of ensureing that our terrain modifier is still useful with mounts entering the game, expansions on fishing (although this isn't a Scout only skill), greater experimentation results witht traps and camps, and other feature ideas that shouldn't take presidence over bug fixes and more content for other less balanced professions.
Many of the bugs that affect scouts the most are not scout-specific. The most annoying, and commented upon, is the trap failure bug that seems to occur with the last trap of a stack. The others, like the prone-warping bug, have been mentioned elsewhere.
Below is a more detailed listing of the requests, suggestions, bugs and other issues affecting the Scout community as of today.
SCOUTS - If I've missed anything please post below and remind me. 
General Requests and Suggestions
Burst run efficiency – Modify the burst run efficiency so that in addition to it requiring less HAM costs, it also allows a Scout to run further (longer duration), and recover from being “tired” in less time (tiered based on Exploration level). This makes the skill more useful, and more attractive for prospective Scouts.
Bothan Mask Scent modifier – The Bothans have asked me to remind you that they want to continue to have a modifier to their Mask Scent skill. I believe it was planned for a +5 Mask Scent and +15 Camo modifier for Bothans, but this +5 to Mask Scent hasn’t been implemented.
Mask Scent Aggro Penalty – The aggro penalty has been another issue for the Scouts. While this concern has been mostly alleviated with the last patch, there have continued to be requests to remove or modify the penalty. The first suggestion to balance our its removal is to add a HAM cost. Since every other skill that provides a benefit uses HAM, this shouldn’t be a majorly controversial addition. As long as it is a reasonable costs, similiar to forage. The second is to scale the aggro by range. Instead of having a strict cut-off of 40 meters, start the current increased percentage as a base at zero meters, and tier it.
0m – 9m = +50% chance of aggro 10m – 19m = +40% chance of aggro 20m – 29m = +30% chance of aggro 30m – 39m = +20% chance of aggro 40m+ = normal
Terrain Negotiation changes – There has been a lot of concern amongst the Scout community regarding our Terrain Negotiation modifier, since mounts and vehicles have been implemented. The request here is that Scouts have the ability to apply their terrain negotiation modifier to their mounts only. This would increase the utility of Mounts as opposed to Vehicles (as Vehicles are much more common than mounts, despite mounts allowing combat) and would add a bit of roleplay value to Scouts by giving them a good reason to stay mounted on an pack animal than on a speeder.
Forage to give minimal Survival XP – This continues to be a frequent request. We recognize the concern that this could turn into an exploit, but the Scouts feel that we can combine two requests into one and solve this problem. First, allow forage to give minimal XP. In addition, as a means to make it non-macroable, have a pop-up during a forage that states what it appears you have found, and ask if you want to proceed. This could read something like "You've uncovered what appears to be (insert item here). Do you wish to continue to forage?" And if you select yes, it shows up in your inventory. Select no, and it doesn't. XP is only gained if you choose to continue foraging. This way Scouts who are using forage to get bait won't have to select food items if they don't want them, and vice versa. It also gives us the ability to gain XP AND have it be non-macroable at the same time.
Forage to give healing not buffs – In an effort to separate out the craftable food buffs, provided by the Chefs, and as part of some requests of the Scouts, convert the foragable buffs provided by food away from the temporary stat boosters and make them small “herbal healers”. Taking one type heals you mind by a small amount, another heals your action or health. They should be of moderate strength, perhaps roughly equivalent to a Stim-B. This shouldn’t alarm the Medics, however, as food is governed by the “stomach” cap, so Stims will always be more useful. I think this will make forage more useful, and provide us with a means of healing in the field that is consistent with the role-play of our characters without making medics or doctors less important.
Mask Scent message – Currently, if your Scout XP is capped, you do not get a message that Mask Scent has been successful (this is the XP message for Scouts who still need the XP). There was a request that there be a message saying “You have successfully snuck past (name of) creature,” or something to affect.
Experimentation Points in General – Give Scouts one experimentation point per level of Survival and Trapping for use on experimenting on Camps and Traps, respectively. The idea behind this is that as Scouts increase in their knowledge of these tools, they should be able to come up with ideas that make their tools more useful and worthwhile. These experimentation points should ONLY work on Camp and Traps (and fishing poles if that is implemented…see the New Schematics section) and should ONLY be useable by Scouts.
Experimentation on Camps – Allow Camps to be experimented on, with experimentation being able to: Increase the XP caps by some percentage (capped at +10%); Increase the healing rates by some percentage (capped at +10%); Increase the Repel Creature radius by some number of meters (capped at 10m). And, of course, have experimentation levels based on the quality of the materials.
Experimentation on Traps – Allow Traps to be experimented on, with experimentation being able to: Increase the XP granted by a successful hit (capped at +10%); Increase the damage/effect times by some percentage (capped at +10%); Increase the distance a trap can be thrown from (capped at +14m – makes them inline with weapon max distances); Increase the number of traps per stack (capped at +50% of current stack level). And of course, have experimentation levels based on the quality of the materials.
Fishing poles – Allow Scouts to construct fishing poles as part of our camp/trap schematics, and have the crafting give minimal Survival XP. As Fishing is now a part of the overall Survival XP strategy for Scouts, it seems reasonable to allow non-artisan scouts to make their own poles. This also adds an additional sink for scout harvestable materials.
Fishing nets – We are frequently requested to provide fish for BEs who use fish in some of their craftable items. However, the current system is not conducive to allowing us to catch multiple fish at one time. The Scouts have suggested that we be given the ability to make a “fishing net” that can catch multiple fish at once, but provides minimal or no XP as a balance (the idea here being that catching a fish with a net is easier than with a pole). In addition, you could create different types of nets – say “active” nets that you use like a fishing pole, and “passive” nets, that work like a miniature fish harvester, but decay over time (and if not checked regularly and replaced, can be destroyed – losing all the fish). This also adds an additional sink for scout harvestable materials.
Scout packs – This is a common suggestion (and one that I know is an issue with other professions, and may not be plausible). As Scouts, our primary mon(k)ey making opportunity is through the selling of harvestable materials. As this material varies by type, planet and creature, it is common for us to get extremely bogged down with our materials. It has been suggested that Scouts be able to craft special packs that allow for the holding of Scout harvestable materials only, with certification provided in the Hunting line, and that take up less space in our inventory (say, each item counts as .5 items if its in a hunting bag). At hunting 1, you get a “Basic Hunting Bag”, that lets you hold say, 30 stacks of harvestable materials, up through Master Scout, where you’d get an “Elite Hunting Bag” that lets you hold, say 90 harvestable materials. I understand the database concerns that something like this could cause, so I don’t expect this to get implemented.
Camping - With the upcoming changes to camping that will remove the requirement to use camps for calling pets/droids/mounts/vehicles, the Scouts have worked with the Rangers to develop a complete redesign for camping in the game. Known as the "modular" camp idea, the full explanation can be found on the Ranger forums.
General Gameplay Enhancement Suggestions
Exploration logs – Setup special signposts or “log books” at the special “unique” static POIs so that Scouts, Rangers and others can post their names to it as having “explored” that area – and perhaps even leave messages for those who follow them. This is based on RL logs that are in many locations in hard to reach wilderness areas, such as along the Appalachian trail.
Remove traps from radar – Currently a little white box shows up on your radar when traps are thrown and landed. It clutters up the screen and makes it difficult to use the radar to find your critters, especially in tall grass, etc. It would be great to remove the traps from the radar.
Harvested/Unharvested Creature Notification – There has been number of requests for a means to determine if a Scout has already harvested a creature without having to verify it using the radial menu. The request is to have unharvested corpses be in “bold” and when they are harvested to go back to normal. Perhaps a “white” and then “gray” would work, as well.
Binoculars – There was a request to allow a craftable (perhaps not by Scouts) item that allows Scouts to increase their visual radius beyond 64-80 meters. These would be similar to the binoculars seen in Episode 1 (Darth Maul) and Episode 4 (Luke Skywalker) and would provide “range to target” info, and allow you to examine the creature as well. Perhaps these could be certified in the Explore tree, with better binoculars providing more information or longer ranges. I don’t know what the game mechanic limitations could be, so this could be another impossible idea.
Traps on CH Pets – We can’t use traps on CH pets. This has been brought up before, but in an effort to make the list complete, I’m bringing it up again. The Scouts want to be able to use traps on CH pets.
Imperial Scout Armor - A new Master Scout perk has been requested that would allow Master Scouts and Rangers to purchase with FP the "Scout" style armor, as seen in Return of the Jedi. Just a slight perk for the Imperials. This would need to be balanced by some kind of Scout type equipment for the Rebellion.
Taxidermy - Scouts want to be able to mount trophy heads of creatures that they have killed, for display in their houses. These could be full scale replicas of a creature (like when you drop a BE pet in your house) or a head, suitable for putting on a wall. Just a bit of fun for us hunters. Who wouldn't want a Krayt head on their wall?
Bug Fixes
(Each bug fix has my opinion of the priority of the bug based on the number of complaints and the perceived interest of the complainers. These are grouped in “low”, “medium”, and “high” priorities. Low means something that has been mentioned, but most do not care. Medium means something that has been mentioned frequently, but has not evoked large amounts of anger or constant requests for updates. High means something that is being constantly requested/questioned and is causing players to drop skills or quit playing the profession all together.)
Forage – There continues to be a bug that does not allow for Scouts to harvest more than two items at once, nor can they harvest any of the “rare” items. Each time this occurs they get a message saying that “some items have been discarded due to your inventory being full,” despite having empty inventories. This has been going on for quite a while now. This is a medium priority bug for the Scouts.
Pet / Non-Scout Group Harvesting – There are continued requests to fix this issue so that Scouts hunting with pets or non-scouts are not penalized with having their harvests reduced by 40%. There is a work around (not grouping your pets) that seems to work, although I know this was not what you intended. This is a medium/high priority bug for the Scouts.
Traps – There is a bug that is believed to occur when you are throwing the last trap of a stack that results in the trap hitting the target, but no XP or failure notification is broadcast. It appears to primarily happen when firing the last trap of a stack only. This is a medium priority bug for the Scouts.
Trap Queue Bug - There is a bug that leaves the last "throw trap" command on your combat queue until you peace or win the fight. This makes it impossible to use a stim pack while the trap is stuck in your queue and you can't clear it. There has been someconjecture that since stimps and trapsare both used in your "left hand" this could be the cause of the problem.This is amedium priority bug for the Scouts.
Recon Missions – There is a bug in the recon missions (primarily the high cash amount, long distance ones, which makes this bug really annoying) that is resulting in the Scouts getting to their destination and having it say “mission incomplete”. No one seems to understand why this is happening. Is there a timer on the missions? Some explanation is sought, or confirmation of a bug. This is a medium priority bug for the Scouts.
Fishing -There appears to be a bug in fishing that is making it impossible to cast a lure. This has been reported in random instances across all servers. This is a medium priority bug for the Scouts.
Camp Insurance - Camps come up as an insurable item in the insurance screen. This should be removed, as it makes it difficult to insure all of your items - if you click on "insure all", you'll be charged for the camps. This is a medium priority bug for the Scouts.
Message Edited by DeltaXi65 on 01-24-2004 03:04 AM
Maybe fishing nets could be part of the trapping tree & also give trapping XP?? At least maybe for your "active" style. A slightly more interesting spin on the trapping grind.
Oh yeah...I've /bugged, but it hasn't been fixed in the last couple of patches...low level explorer destroy missions no longer tell you what type of creature to kill. The ones that have you kill 15, 30 or 45 creatures. This was broken during the big patch 3-4 weeks ago. I'm seeing on \\Kauri\Talus\Dearic, anyone else?
or make the nets a bit beefier with the xp, but move the nets over to ranger?
aside from that, looking sweet!
Guys,
I've updated the State of the Profession - check it out and make sure I haven't missed anything. My notes are kind of scattered around my desk here.
B
Very good post and looks like it covers almost everything. I have an additional suggestion as it pertains to camps. It is nice that the higher level camps replel creatures and such but with the new patch coming out not requiring a camp to bring out vehicles or pets lower-level camps have no value except to boost medical healing.
I suggest that maybe a person's HAM get affected during weather conditions. You cannot function as clearly on a target if you are wet, cold, and it's windy. Who can really fight well in a Tatooine desert storm. These weather conditions should do damage and require healing,like heat stroke or frost bite might.
A camp would provide the protection from the elements - which is why we see tents and a fire. A camp should also provide some sort of healing while camped to a point. Don't know what would be fair to the medics and docs. Maybe, the camp would protect from the deterioration of the HAM. Maybe, storms just do a temporary deterioration of the HAMs and are healed in a CAMP only. This would provide some usefullness for camps. Camps should be adjusted so that anyone can use a basic camp. This could provide some small income to the Scouts then. Whoever heard of anyone not being able to go to Target and buy a tent and put it up.
But, the defininition of Scouts and Rangers is that they are usually in the wild and can survive alone.
I started out in this profession trying to live the dream of not having to have a house. Well, after awhile trying to make $$$ and such it became evident that I needed a place to store stuff. It would be nice to have like a hunting lodge that is used primarily for storage for scouts and rangers. They could only have one or the other house or lodge. There could be advantages of the hunting lodge that could be used for hunting parties. Still thinking about how it would work.
Just some thoughts.
Soon conceal will no longer work against NPCs. To make use of the current +camouflage bonus we have to master another profession, which no other species does. Wookiees are the closest with not receiving their bonus until they are an elite that only requires two skill lines for qualification.
Considering this, I would like the full +15 moved back to maskscent. As it stands the modifier is useless and this would once again make it useful to many more of my kin.
Additionally, this is an issue over on the Core Systems board. Many Bothans feel we should have a modifier to something a little more fitting for our species, such as smuggler or more socio-political oriented. While I agree with that, I advocate the reversion to maskscent while it is considered and balanced.
DeltaXi65 wrote:
Imperial Scout Armor - A new Master Scout perk has been requested that would allow Master Scouts and Rangers to purchase with FP the "Scout" style armor, as seen in Return of the Jedi. Just a slight perk for the Imperials. This would need to be balanced by some kind of Scout type equipment for the Rebellion.
OHMYGODTHATISSOAWESOMETHANKYOUSOMUCH!! ^^
That is my second favorite Star Wars Armor (not counting Mandalorian armor... It's the coolest by default 
) ever ever ever! ^.^
Ohhhh please-o-please-o-please-o-please let them put scout armor in the game! ^^
Oooooh, and the rebel equivelant could be the gear that Luke, Leiah and the other rebel troopers were wearing on Endor's Moon.
Ghostlion wrote:
Oooooh, and the rebel equivelant could be the gear that Luke, Leiah and the other rebel troopers were wearing on Endor's Moon.
The helmets already exist. I got one as a prize after doing a random NPC mission and sold it on the bazaar for 3K (not my look). Funny thing was that the NPC handed me some BS about it once belonging to a pod racer named Anakin Skywalker, but it was definitely the type that Luke & Leia wore on Endor.